Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/americanencyclopOOchaprich ep THE I iE OF CL.p^^^'^^ THE AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE, CONTAINING PRACTICAL AND SYSTEMATIC TREATISES ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH THE INTERESTS OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL, ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED, AND ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR POPULAR USE, THE BUILDING OF RESIDENCES, BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS; THE SELECTION AND CARE OF CARRIAGES, WAGONS, FUR- NITURE, AND ALL VEHICLES, INSTRUMENTS OR IMPLEMENTS OF A RURAL OR DOMESTIC NATURE; OF ALL THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS OR FOWLS OF AMERICA; WITH A TREATISE ON THE CAUSES, SYMPTOMS AND CURE OF ALL DISEASES TO WHICH ANY OR AUC'i(RE SUBJECT; ALSO, EMBRACING FULL INFORMATION ON THE BREEDING, REARING 'fc^tl^j^Mtl^Hljl ||ll Jl,| | M 1 1 Hi 11 i AND FOWLS DOMESTICATED IN THE UNITED STATt^OF THE GROWING OF FRUITS^ AND vegetables; of CEREALS^AND grasses; of FLOWERS AND SHRUBS; OF ALL SUBSTANCES USED AS FOOD, WITH THE *|VlogT 'Approved '|v1ethod^ of pF^EgEf^viNq and ;Pooki|^q; SjjVAMERICAN AGRICULTURE; OF LANDSCAPE GARDENING; OF FIELD SPORTS; OF FRAUDS AND SWIND1.ES; OF TRAVELING, BOOK-KEEPING, LEGAL AND BUSINESS FORMS. PRESERVATION OF HEALTH, DOMESTIC MEDICINE, ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED IN THE DRESS AND THE TOILET; ETIQUETTE; LAUNDRY; PERSONAL AND HOME ADORN- MENT, AND OF EVERY SUBJECT PERTAINING TO DOMESTIC ECONOMY, AND ALSO CONTAINING SEVERAL THOUpAf^D TEpTED RECIPEg OF }9o 16 " 16 170 4 " 2 " S.44S 'I '■ 't 150 4 " 3 " 3.630 iS " iS 1.14 4 " 4 " 3,732 19 " 19 130 4/. " 4 " 3,151 20 " 30 loS S " I " J II J .1 9,7" 4.356 25 " 35 30 •' 30 ^ S " 3 " a.904 40 " 40 »7 S " 4 " a. 179 SO " so "7 S " 5 " >.74» 60 " 60 13 iM •• S " i,4"7 66 >• 66 10 1,310 For intermediate numbers in the above table one can readily make the required calculation. Amount of Seed to the Acre. The follow- ing gives the quantity of seed and number of plants requisite to crop an acre of land, and will prove valuable to farmers and gardeners, and to families generally who may have only a small garden. It can always be referred to to set one right in any matter of doubt connected with the subjects involved : Asparag^us, in la-inch drills, i6 quarts. Asparag:us, plants, 4 by iJ4 feet, 8,000. Barley, 2>4 bushels. Beans, bush, in drills zYt feet, 1^ bushels. Beans, pole, Lima, 4 by 4. feet, 20 quarts. Beans, Carolina, prolific, etc., 4 by 3, 10 quarts. Beets and mangolds, drills, 2}4 feet, 9 pounds. Broom-corn in drills, 12 pounds. Cabbaj^e, outside, for transplanting, 12 ounces. Cabbage sown in frames, 4 ounces. Carrot in drills, 2^ feet, 4 pounds. Celery, seed, S ounces. Celery, plant, 4 by H feet, 25,000. Clover, white Dutch, 13 uounds. Clover, lucern, 10 pounds. Clover, Alsike, 6 pounds. Clover, hirge red, with timothy, 12 pounds. Cloyer, large red, without timothy, 16 pounds. Corn, sug-ar, 10 quarts. Corn, field, S quarts. Corn salad, drill 10 inches, 25 lbs. Cucumber, in hills, 3 quarts. Cucumber, in drills, 4 quarts. Ejfg plant, plants 3 oy 2 feet, 4 ounces. Endive, in drills, aV4 feet, 3 pounds. Flax, broadcast, 20 quarts. Grass, timothy with clover, 6 quarts. Grass, timothy without clover, 10 quarts. Grass, orchard, 25 quarts. Grass, red top or nerd's, ao quarts. Grass, blue, 2S quarts. Grass, rye, ao quarts. Grass, millet, 32 quarts. Adornment, of Home; see Home Adornment, Lawn, Landscape Gardening, and Residence. Adulteration, of Foods, etc.: see the respective articles. Agitation is now started for more strin- gent legislation, both local and national, to pre- vent adulteration of foods, condiments, and other Hemp, broadcast, 5i bushel. Kale, German greens, 3 pounds. Lettuce, in rows, 2% feet, 3 pounds. Leek, 4 pounds. Lawn ^rass, 35 pounds. Melons, water) in hills 8 by 8 feel, 3 pounds. Melons, citrons, in hills 4,by4feet| 2 pounds. Oats, 2 bushels. Okra, in drills, 2\i by J< feet, ao pounds. Onion, in beds for sets, 50 pounds. Onion, in rows for large Dulbs, 7 pounds. Parsnip, in drills 2>4 feet, $ pounds. Pepper, plants, 2% by i foot, iTiSoo- Pumpkin, in hills 8 by 8 feet, a quarts. Parsley, in drills 3 feet, 4 pounds. Peas, in drills, short varieties, a bushels. Peas, in drills, tall varieties, i to lYt bushels. Peas, broadcast, 3 bushels. Potatoes, 8 bushels. Radish, in drills 2 fei-t, 10 pounds. Rye, broadcast, 1^ bushels. Rye. drilled, 1% bushels. Salsify, in drills a^ feet, 10 pounds. Spinach, broadcast, 30 pounds. Squash, bush, in hills, 4 by 4 feet, 3 pounds. Squash, running, 8 by 8 feet, a pounds. Sorghum, 4 quarts. Turnips, in drills 2 feet, 3 pounds. Turnips, broadcast, 3 pounds. Tomatoes, in frames, 3 ounces. Tomatoes, seed, in hills 3 by 3 feet, 8 ounces. Tomatoes, plants, 3,800. Wheat, in drills, i^ bushels. Wheat, broadcast, a bushels. AFTERMA 7 IJ— ALLSPICE. »3 articles of domestic use. We take this oppor- tunity to encourage this agitation, until the un- principled practice of running the great Jugger- naut of the almighty dollar over the health and lives of innocent people is utterly ended. Aftermath or Rowen. The second and third crops of grass in the same season: generally de- voted to pasturage. Agriculture: see Farming. Ague. The symptoms are weakness, languor, and an uncontrollable disposition to gape and stretch; the patient is seized with a severe chill; he begins to shake all over, the teeth chatter, and the face and hands become pale. After the chill has passed, a warm sense of feeling returns, and graduallv the whole system becomes flushed with heat. The patient grows thirsty, the head begins to ache, and a profuse sweat breaks out. It is not generally a dangerous disease, thougii very dis- tressing and weakening. Persons subject to it should wear flannel next to the skin, and avoid exposure to damp air or by wet feet. Treatment — Reg.: One to four grains of quinine, once or twice a day; hot herb teas. Hom.: One grain of aconite every two houi's; or six globules of ipecacuanha or nux vomica in a tumblerful of water, of which take a tablespoonful every two hours. EcL. : Three times a day take two pills (usual size) of quinine and extract of flowering dogwood, in equal parts; after the paroxysms cease, take twice a day, for three days, a pill of extract of blood-root and waahoo in equal parts. For the biliousness give a cathartic of extract of dogbane, two parts, and one of podophyllin (a precipitated extract of May-ap- ple root). Hyg.: Hot pack at the commencement of the cold stage, sponging off during the hot stage, continued rest, diet mainly on fruits, abstain- ing from condiments. It is said that a positive cure for chills and fever is to drink the juice of one lemon during the dry and thirsty stage, and to rub the whole body with the juice of another lemon. Air, in health and disease: see Hygiene. Alabaster ornaments are generally made of a kind of translucent gypsum. They are easily stained or colored with metallic solutions, tinctures, and colored oils; polished with finely powdered pumice stone or dried scouring-rush, and afterward with a paste formed of finely powdered and sifted slacked lime and water, and finally with French chalk. Grease spots may also be removed from such articles by rubbing with French chalk, or talc. A general cleaning may be eflfected with soap and hot water: if very cHrty and stained, the piece should be first washed with dilute nitric acid. AlcarrazaTs a porous vessel of earthenware for cooling water. Supplying its own surface with the water from within, it saves the trouble of keeping a wet linen or cotton cloth around it. A similar article, called " olla," is used in some parts of the South. Alcohol, a semi-poisonous chemical made from the starch of grains, colorless, volatile and inflamma- ble. It is extensively used in the arts, especially pharmacy, as it dissolves resin, essential oils, cam- phor, soap, sugar, wax, the gums and the alkaloids, most of which substances are imperfectly soluble in water. It curdles milk and albumen, separates starch and gum from their mucilages, and conserves all organic substances. It cannot be frozen. Hence its great utility ; but, as with any other luxury, man- kind could get along without it. " Proof spirit " contains 52^ per cent, of alcohol in volume, the rest being water. This is the strength usually em- ployed in medicines and perfumery. " Dilute al- cohol " has 53I per cent, water, by volume. To purify alcohol, filter it through alternate layers of sand, wood charcoal, boiled wheat and broken oyster shells. The fusel oil, which may be detected by mixing with an equal quantity of pure sulphuric acid, discoloring the liquid, can be easily extracted from small quantities of alcohol by add- ing a few drops of olive oil, shaking well, and decanting, after settling. Alden Process of drying fruits and vegetables: see Drying. Ale, a beverage made from an infusion of malt by fermentation. Having a smaller proportion of hops than beer, it is sweeter, and of a lighter color. Burton ale is the strongest, containing eight per cent, of alcohol ; brown stout contains six per cent., and common beer only one per cent. As a bever- age, ale is more popular in Great Britain than else- where, the people there considering it the most healthful of all drinks. In the UViited States, the, Germans, being more numerous than any other class of foreigners, have well nigh supplanted other intoxicating drinks with their lager beer, except among the Irish and the more old-fashioned people. To mull ale, take a pint of it, good and strong, put it into a sauce-pan with three cloves and a little nutmeg, and sugar to the taste; set it over the fire until it boils; then mix with it the beaten yolks of four eggs, which must be first mixed with a little cold ale. Wassail, or lamb's-wool, is ale heated, sweet- ened and spiced. Very nice with hot toast, roasted apples, etc. For brewing ale, adulteration, etc., see Beer. Alfalfa, a forage plant akin to clover; Lucern, which see. Allspice, or Jamaica pepper, takes its first name from the idea that it has the properties of all spices, particularly cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. In purchasing, never buy ground or pulverized spice, as all such is adulterated with saw dust, ground peas, grains and even the dirt and dust of the mills. M ALMONDS— A NIMA L S. Almonds (am'undz), nuts which are naturally- akin to peachstones, but having softer shells. Sweet almonils are among the best nuts, and are used in fancy cookery; bitter almonds are poison. They cannot be profitably raised in the Northern United States. The "eartli almond," recom- mended by a few parties as a farm product, is de- cidedly unprofitable anywhere in the North. Aloe (al'o), a medicinal plant of tropical countries. The hot, bitter, purgative drug called "aloes" (al'oze), is the dried juice or extract of this plant. Alpaca ^al-pac'a), a camel-like animal of South America, about the size of a sheep, and furnishing a valuable wool. Attempts have been made to introduce it into this country, which mav yet prove successful in certain mountainous regions. The word " alpaca " also denotes the cloth made from the wool, or hair, of the animal. To wash alpaca, see Laundry. Alsike (al-se'ka) Clover: see Clover. Alterative (ol'tera-tiv), a inedicine which in- sensibly and gradually alters certain conditions and functional actions. Used in chronic cases. The term is also used adjectively. Alum, the sulphate of alumina (an earthy mineral constituting the body of clay) and potash. It is astringent, and is good to stop bleeding. When burned, the powder becomes a good caustic. The astringent lotion is made by dissolving 6 to 8 drachms of alum in a quart of water. The various uses of this vahiable substance are given under the respective heads in this volume. Amalgam, a compound of quicksilver with another metal. An amalgam with lead, tin, and bismuth, is the coating on the back side of looking- glasses, and is poison. Costly mirrors are gen- erally coated with pure silver. It is not advisable to re-coat old mirrors of the cheaper class. Ammonia, or Heartshorn, is a volatile alkali, superior to soap for many domestic purposes, and is the old-time " smelling salts," so often resorted to in nervous affections, spasms, etc. When too much is swallowed, by mistake, there is a burning, biting taste, heat in the tliroat and stomach, vomiting of bloody matter, etc. As antidotes, give vinegar, and then oil of almost anv kind, as sweet or linseed. Anaesthetic (an-es-thet'-ic), destroying sensi- bility. Also the drug which has such an effect, as chloroform, ether, or any drug vapor inhaled to take away sensibility. Sometimes one is preferable, sometimes another, according to circumstances, but in general, chloroform is the most dangerous of all, while it is the most eflfectual. For short opera- tions in surgery, violent breathing for a few seconds is sufficient to enable the patient to stand the operation. Anbury (an'bu-ry), or Ambury, a soft tumor on horses and cows, containing blood; also, a swell- ing produced by insects on the roots of turnips, cabbages, etc. Anchor. To " anchor " a building is to fasten it in an upright position by any special contrivance so strongly that it can withstand violent winds. Anchovy (an-cho'vy), a small fish about three inches long, of the herring family. Anchovy-pear, a plant and its fruit, found in the West Indies. Andiron, a dog-iron, or fire-dog; a simple iron stand or frame for supporting wood in a fire-place.. Aneurism (an'u-rizm), a pulsating tumor sit- uated in a section of an artery. The inner coat of the artery is ruptured, or gives away to the press- ure of blood, and a dilation is thereby caused. When an aneurism has once commenced, it con- tinues to enlarge until it attains a great size; often it bursts. No home treatment can be recommended, except fomentations to alleviate the pain. Angelica, an aromatic herb sometimes cultivated as a salad or for medicine. The leaf-stalks are pealed and eaten raw, or are boiled with fish or other meat. The root, leaves and seeds are some- times used medicinally as a tonic. It is sown and cultivated like carrots or parsnips. The root should be dug up in the autumn of the first year and dried. Angling: see Fishing, Aniline (an'i-lin), a base similar to ammonia, distilled from indigo and other plants, coloring a strong violet blue, with chloride of lime. One of the most valuable ingredients in Dyeing, which see. Animal Charcoal: see Charcoal. Anatomy. Anatomy is the science of the struct- ure of the human or any other organized body; of all the parts or organs of which it is composed, and their relative positions in it. The body in its description is divided into four general divisions — head, trunk, upper and lower extremities. While anatomy gives us a knowledge of the form, character and situation of the various parts of the body separately, physiology shows us the functions and uses of the different parts and organs of the sys- tem. In studying anatomy we examine separately the different parts of a complicated machine, while physiology shows the machine in motion and the forces that produce the latter. Technically speaking, physiology is the science of the functions of living beings; includingj in its wid- est acceptation, the study of all the changes which they undergo. There may be, therefore, vegetable PLATE 1. PLATE li PLATE III. PLATE IV. PLATE V. ANATOMY. IS and animal physiology ; also human and comparative physiology. Biology is a word now much used, meaning the whole science of life. Pathology is the physiology of the body and its organs in a state or states of disease ; it is fundamental to the scientific practice of medicine. General physiology considers the materials, forces and forms of organized bodies. The matter of which plants and animals are or have been composed is called, from its being or having been present in their organs or instrumental parts, organic matter. .'Vll other substances, with properties not affected by the presence of life, are inorganic. A distinction is per- ceptible and important between — -ist, organizable matter; 2d, organized material, /. e., that present in living organs ; and 3d, that which has been organ- ized, but is no more capable of active function or new formation ; for the last, the term post-organic would be convenient, although it is not usual. Between the organic and inorganic materials dif- ferences exist — ist, in complexity of composition; 2d, in instability; 3d, in the forms which they tend to assume, especially under the influence of life. Of the whole number of elements in nature supposed by chemists to be simple or undecomposable, scarcely twenty are found taking part in the composition of plants or animals. In mineral and other inorganic bodies, binary compounds are not rare, and ternary ones coinmon ; while in organic substances, four, five, or a still larger number of elements are more often combined ; with, also, a large number of equivalents of each. From this complexity of composition results great instability; shown by the rapid decay or putre- faction to which vegetable and animal structures are liable after their death. This complexity is greatest in animal bodies ; most of all in the highest animals. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are the most nearly universal elements in organic matter. With them occur sulphur, phosphorus, calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, chlorine, silicon, fluorine and some others, in variable quantities. Animal tissues, except fat (and some very few other partial exceptions among the lowest animals), always liave carbon, hy- drogen, oxygen and nitrogen; vegetable substances may consist of the first three of these without nitro- gen ; although the latter is also frequently present in plants. Reason exists for designating by a special name that agency in organized bodies, /. e., ])lants and ani- mals, which gives them the characterof living beings; and the best name for it is vital force, or life force. This ought to be studied like the other forces of nat- ure. By exclusion, we find that, after most func- tions of the animal or vegetable organs have been ex- plained by reference to chemical, mechanical or other ordinary physical laws, something is still left. That is formation, growth, development ; the con- struction from a formless liquid (blood, sap) of def- initely formed structures, going through a series of changes for a definite period. We call the cause of this adaptive formation and change life. When it ceases, death is characterized by the loss of all that was peculiar to the being, and the return of its* ma- terials to the inorganic (through the post-organic) state. We may enumerate the main facts established con- cerning vital force, as follows: i. It is common to animals and plants. 2. It never originates except from parentage; omtu vivum ex vivo. 3. Its action is essentially formative and reparative. 4. In the liv- ing body it controls and directs the other physical forces, as chemical affinity, etc., modifying their re- sults. 5. It acts expansively, from centers outward, as shown by the production of rounded forms, cells, etc. 6. Sometimes it may be transmuted into other forces during life, and is altogether so at death. 7. Other forces, especially heat, sustain it, or are con- verted into it. 8. Sometimes it may be suspended for a time; as in the winter torpor of certain animals. 9. It is always definitely limited in duration under any particular form ; that is, each individual can live only for a certain time, longer or shorter, ac- cording to its species, to. Life-force may vary in a degree, in the same body at different times, and in the different parts of the same organism. This last proposition affords the best foundation for rational pa- thology. Yet it would be a serious error to suppose that all disease consists merely in diminished vitality, general or local. Liquids and solids together make up every organ- ized body which has active functions. The liquids in plants are the sap, and sometimes special juices; in animals, the blood, lymph, chyle and various se- cretions. The solids are the organs, comjwsed of various tissues ; and these of elementary forms, viz. : molecules, nuclei, cells, fibers, membranes and tubes. As seen under the microscope, the blood consists of a colorless liquid (liquor sanguinis) in which float the red and the white or colorless corpuscles; from fifty to five hundred of the red to one of the colorless in human blood. Of the former the diameter is about r-33ooof an inch; of the white corpuscles, 1-2500. The latter are nucleated ; the red corpuscles in man are not. The shape of the red corpuscles is disk- like or carwheel-like; i.e., circular, flattened, and concave at the middle. Carbonic acid and some other gases, when absorbed, swell the corpuscles into a more globular form; oxygen widens and flat- tens them. The osseous or bony system is the framework or foundation and support of the various other depart- ments of a body. In bone, earthy and animal con- stituents are intimately combined. Of the former there are about 66.7 parts to 33.3 of the latter. Phosphate of calcium is the most abundant mineral material; being about 51 parts in the 100 of bone. Carbonate of calcium 1 1.3 parts; fluoride of calcium 2 parts. The mineral m.itter of bone increases with age, making the bones of the old more brittle. There is more of it also in some bones, and parts of bones, than in others. When the framework is connected, in their proper order, they form the skeleton, as shown i6 ANATOMY. of the man on Plate IV, and of the horse on Plate IX. ' The number of bones in the human body is 206, excluding the 32 teeth. This also excludes the sesamoid bones, which are not uniform in num- ber. There are supposed to be the same number of bones in all animals, although in many some of the bones are not developed. Bones are composed of both earthy (chiefly lime) and animal matter, and, like all other parts of the body, are formed from the blood. There is wonderful wisdom displayed in the development and harmony of the anatomy of the human body. Beside the bones there are cartilages, liga- ments and membranes, which go to make up the framework of the body. The cartilages are smooth, white, elastic substances, which unite the bones and cover the ends of those which move upon each other, as illustrated in the joints. These, which are fre- quently called gristle, resemble bone in appearance, but are much softer. Ligaments, like the bones, possess slight sensibility when in a normal condi- tion, but are extremely painful when inflamed. They are strong, white, fibrous bands or cords, which hold bones in their places and connect them at the joints. Membranes vary in appearance and struct- ure as well as in function. They are tliin sub- stances which line the cavities of the body and envelop all the organs. The muscles compose that portion of the body which is usually known as the lean meat. They number over 500, and'